ARPA-E Energy Innovation Pre-Conference Workshop

Monday, February 28, 2011

One-day program focused on helping researchers, entrepreneurs and technology agents gain strategic insights into the ARPA-E agency. Participants will be briefed about existing and future program priorities, learn the key criteria used in evaluating proposals, meet and ask questions directly to ARPA-E program managers, interact with DOE lawyers about IP protection, and gain insight into energy commercialization.

Benefits

Learn about existing and potential future funding programs

Help shape the Agency’s vision and future programmatic topic areas

Understand what ARPA-E Program Directors are looking for in winning research proposals

To explore the “white space” of energy research and identify critical new areas for technology development, ARPA-E has held a number of workshops with researchers and thought leaders from academia, national labs, government, and industry. These breakout sessions will present some of the key findings from these workshops and will invite additional discussion from those in attendance.

ARPA-E actively looks for new areas for investment that could result in a transformation of the energy system. This session will provide an opportunity for the community to participate in discussion with industry leaders on two new areas of interest: “The Energy-Water Nexus” and “Natural Gas Conversion to Liquid Fuels”.

The Energy-Water Nexus

Natural Gas to Liquid Fuels

1:35 PM

Building Strategic Partnerships

In developing new energy technologies, partnering with a large industry player can provide access to the capital, knowledge, and resources necessary to succeed in scaling up and reaching the marketplace. Recently, large corporations are becoming increasingly active in investing, partnering with, and acquiring new energy technologies. This panel will focus on how small businesses can engage with large corporations and what mechanisms (e.g., joint ventures, joint development agreements, licensing agreements, equity investments, distribution partnerships) have proven successful.

“The Government Role in Energy R&D” -- followed by Focused Networking Session with Funding Programs

The Federal government invests billions of dollars each year in energy R&D. This panel brings together senior leaders from the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, and the Small Business Administration to discuss their agencies’ roles in funding and supporting energy R&D, including a range of new and recently created programs. Following the panel, there will be a networking session where participants can meet representatives from DOE, DoD and SBA to learn more about their energy R&D programs, including how to apply for funding.

Sean Greene, Associate Administrator for Investment & Special Advisor for Innovation, U.S. Small Business Administration